Romans Lesson 17

Introduction

A very pleasant good day to you, and welcome to Let the Bible Speak. I hope you have your New Testament’s handy that you’ll be opening with me to the reading found in the book of Romans in chapter 9, where today we’re going to continue our verse by verse study of this grand book. Romans chapter 9, 10 and 11, the three chapters actually go together, and change really the line of reasoning from what we have been observing in the first eight chapters of Romans. You see, as we study the book of Romans, really, we understand that he’s writing a letter to show us that the gospel is God’s power to save. And yet there are Jews who have some questions to ask. If in fact God no longer has the law of Moses intact, and that is the salvation or system of salvation by works, but now there’s a system of salvation by grace.

Has God been unfair to the Jews to change? What is God’s attitude toward Jews? These are some of the questions that will be raised, really, as we observe chapters 9, 10, and 11. Particularly, though, we’ve been observing even from the very start of our study in the book of Romans, that the theme of this grand book is announced in chapter 1, in verses 16 and 17, where the apostle said, For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. For it is the power of God and the salvation, to everyone that believeth, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith, as it is written, the just shall live by faith. Indeed, that sets forth this grand theme that now the gospel, that is, the gospel of Jesus Christ, who died for us, who was raised from the grave, that faith in him, by grace through faith, we can be saved.

That’s really the basic theme of this book. But also, along with that theme is the very fact that while the gospel is God’s power, it’s made to all the world, to the Jew first and also to the Greek or to the Gentile. But you may raise the question, well, if if the gospel is also for the Gentile, is God really fair to the Jew as well? And so, really coupled with that theme is found in Romans chapter 2 and verse 11. The fact is that God is no respecter of persons. In every nation, whether he be Jew or Gentile, whoever believes in Jesus as the Christ and comes to him in obeying his will, their salvation shall be theirs. Well, the Jew who may raise the question, is God really fair?

1. Great Heaviness and Continual Sorrow for My Kinsmen

When he shows his own particular interest and care about them. It’s quite a statement that he would say. And if you’ll read with me, Romans chapter 9, verses 1 through 5, you hear this apostle saying, I say the truth in Christ. I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost, that I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh. Who are Israelites? To whom pertaineth the adoption and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the law and the service of God and the promises. Whose are the fathers, and of whom, as concerning the flesh, Christ came, who is overall God blessed forever.

Amen. Now sometimes the Jews may have looked upon the Apostle Paul as though he were a traitor, or at one time he was very zealous of the traditions of the fathers and in fact persecuted the way of Jesus Christ. But then after the vision that he had of the Christ on the road to Damascus, recorded in Acts chapter 9, of course, he became a very devoted convert to the Christ, and in fact became an apostle. But his ministry basically was to the Gentiles. So Jews may look upon Paul as though one who’s committed treason or he has become as a traitor to the Jewish faith. But he argues in these three chapters that that is not at all his position. That he is still concerned about his brethren in the flesh.

He is a Jew, he is an Israelite. And he said, in fact, his heart is with them. He has continual sorrow in his heart. But when he says in verse 3, I could even wish myself accursed for my kinsman. He’d be willing to be lost in the place if they could be saved. What a statement to be made. And yet he simply shows that there is a sincere concern and interest that his fellow kinsmen in the flesh might come to the same knowledge about Jesus Christ and be saved. But aren’t they God’s chosen people? The Jew would ask. In the next verses four and five that we’ve just read, there are some nine different phrases which really describe the position of the Israelites or of the Jews.

2. God’s Chosen People: Chosen for What?

Many people even today know the statement that the Jews are God’s chosen people. But even today there are many who misunderstand what they are chosen for. They were not chosen that they might be saved just because they were born in the flesh, a Jew, but they were chosen to be the family out of which Jesus Christ would be born. Through their father Abraham. The promises, original promises were made and repeated to Isaac and later to Jacob, whose name was changed to Israel. Yes, they are God’s chosen people, that is the nation chosen, and blessed by God. But but only blessed that through them the promised seed, who is Christ, would come. Look at these descriptions of them in verses four and five when he says, Who are Israelites?

You see, they’re God’s chosen people, but called Israelites. Abraham’s son, the promised son, was Isaac, whose promised son, through whom the seed came, was named Jacob. And in Genesis chapter 32 and in verse 28, Jacob’s name was changed to Israel, Prince of God, literally. And those then, therefore, who came of the lineage of Jacob or Israel became known as Israelites. So here God’s chosen people, they are Israelites, but but they are the adopted. He says, To whom pertaineth the adoption and the glory. They were as God’s firstborn ones, Exodus chapter 4 and verse 22. God indeed took them as his own. And his glory was forever present with them. His glory was made known even to them at Mount Sinai when Moses went up on the mount to receive the Ten Commandments.

The smoke filled the tabernacle as they built it, and there the high priest would enter into the Holy of Holies to offer sacrifice for the sins of the people, and then leave and later, when the temple was built. Many times the glory of God was made known to them. They were aware that God was forever with them. Even the scripture in Exodus chapter 29 speaks of how that God was forever with them. In verses 45 and 46, he said, I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will be their God. And they shall know that I am the Lord their God that brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, that I may dwell among them. I am the Lord their God. So indeed the glory was with them.

God’s glorious presence. But not only that, in chapter 9 of Romans and verse 4, he says they also had the covenants and the giving of the law. Well, they could look back to the to their father Abraham, and from Genesis chapter 12, verses 1 through 3, there were the promises that God would take them to a land, he would give a land unto them, he would make of Abraham a great nation. And then Genesis 12 and 3 that through the seed of Abraham, God would bless all families of the earth. Indeed, they had the basic covenant and promises of God. He favored them because of the faith of their father Abraham. But they also had the law. The law of Moses was given to them. And when they were brought out of the land of Egypt from the servitude there, and then at Mount Sinai, God gave them the covenants.

Deuteronomy chapter 5, at a later time, Moses said to them, not to their fathers, but to those who were alive there that day, God had made known his covenant or the law. It was given to the Jews. The law of Moses, basically what we read in the Old Testament, was not given to all people of the world. It was not given to the Egyptians from whose land they had just come. It was not given to the Canaanites into whose land they were going. The law of Moses was given to this chosen nation, to this chosen people, that they might know God and his testimonies, and that they might purify themselves, and ultimately that they might be led to Jesus Christ. Oh, they were God’s favored people, weren’t they?

With the covenants of God and with the law of Moses. But even so they had the service, the King James Version translates, and the promises of God. The service, meaning the worship. Hebrews in the New Testament, Hebrews chapter 9, verses 1 and 10, describes how God made known to them his desired form of worship, what they were to do in making sacrifices unto God, and how they would indeed serve him in their paying homage unto him, who is the Lord God. They had God’s promises, even as God told to Abraham in Genesis chapter 17 and verse 7, they would always be their God and the God of His people.

And so He did. In fact, as in verse 5 of Romans 9, whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is overall, God blessed forever. Indeed, they did have the promises. They had the promise that God would be with them, and theirs were the fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the great patriarchs, in whom they gloried, that they were the lineage of these three men, and of whom, through them, came Jesus Christ in the flesh. The very purpose for all of these favors and blessings that God had put upon them, that the Savior of the world, the Messiah, would come. Of course, here was their downfall. Jesus became their stumbling stone. They did not believe in the Christ. But that was the purpose for which all these blessings had really come upon them.

3. They Are Not All Israel Which Are of Israel

Now, as we read further in Romans chapter 9, 10 and 11, we’re going to see how that the apostle draws this very fact that they rejected the Christ as the cause for their being turned away as God’s chosen nation. They fell from that favor of God. It wasn’t that God was unfair to them, but it was that they first rejected God. Now read with me verses six through eight of Romans chapter nine, and you hear him saying that in fact now, just because they’re born in the flesh does not mean that they’re really God’s people any longer. I’m reading Romans 9 and verse 6, when he says, not as though the word of God had taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel, neither because they are the seed of Abraham are they all children.

But in Isaac shall thy seed be called. That is, they which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God. But the children of the promise are counted for the seed. May sound a little confusing upon first reading, where in verse 6 he says, For they are not all Israel which are of Israel. What does he mean by that? Well, when you put these verses together, you know that he’s trying to explain to them that just because they’re born in the flesh of the lineage of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob does not guarantee that they’re God’s people any longer. It is true that for the 1500 years, particularly from the time of Moses and the law was given to them, that if they were born in the flesh and circumcised on the eighth day, that because of fleshly birth, they sustained a covenant relationship with God.

But now the covenant relationship with God is not based upon fleshly birth. It’ll be based upon a spiritual birth. And therefore, those who may be born in the flesh of the lineage of Abraham are not really all Israel. Now the Israel of God are those who are born again. Galatians chapter 6 and verse 16, in fact, even speaks about those who are the Israel of God. You see, being a Jew in the flesh does not make one even God’s child. In Romans chapter 2 and verses 28 and 29, he alluded to this very point when he said, For he is not a Jew which is one outwardly. Neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh, but he is a Jew which is one inwardly.

And circumcision is that of the heart in the spirit, and not in the letter, whose praise is not of men. It’s a point we need to make even in our own generation of time that a person does not inherit his salvation in Christ. No matter how faithful your parents may have been or whether or not they’re Christians, does not ensure that you are a Christian. You may be born in the right nation or the right family, but but to be a child of God takes conversion from the heart and service that is sincere out of a heart of faith. And so one is not of Israel, that is God’s people, just because he’s born in the flesh a Jew. Well, that’s going to raise some more questions.

Does God have the right to change? Has God changed? Has God been unfair or unrighteous to these that he is blessed from the time of Abraham for nearly two thousand years? What are the answers to that? We’re going to pause for just one moment, and when we come back, we’re going to see how the apostle further develops the answer to that question in showing that God is sovereign and has the sovereign right to choose his scheme of redemption. You stay with us. We’ll be back in just one moment. If the Jews are God’s chosen people, has God been unfair when he has made Jesus Christ the way of salvation? And the gospel of Jesus Christ has been made available to all, both Jews and Gentiles alike?

4. God Has a Sovereign Right to Choose

Indeed, these are some of the questions that are being raised in Romans chapter 9, 10 and 11. I studied today in chapter 9, really, as we raise the question, is God unfair? Is God unrighteous, really is the King James translation of this question. But in these next few verses that we’re going to study, we see how that the apostle begins to show that God is sovereign. And God has a sovereign right to choose who is the scheme or means of salvation. He has the right to choose a course of salvation. Now, sometimes our friends that we sometimes describe as teaching the doctrine of Calvinism have taken the word that God is sovereign, and they’ve developed from that an idea that says, Well, whatever will be, will be, as though God totally controls every movement and in fact elects certain specific individuals to be saved.

Well, in these few verses of Romans chapter 9, he indeed speaks about how God has a sovereign right to choose. But what he does not say is that he elects specific individuals to be saved. What is God elected? God has elected Christ to be the means of salvation. Let’s read Romans chapter 9 and let’s see if the language really fits what we’ve just described. In Romans chapter 9, verses 9 through 13, the scripture says, For this is the word of promise. At this time I will come, and Sarah shall have a son. Not only this, but when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac. For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth.

It was said unto her, the elder shall serve the younger. As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. Now what we see in this is that God has a divine or sovereign right to choose. God has elected. But what is he elected? He has elected the family out of which the Savior should come. In fact, what he is describing here is that even when he said to uh Abraham and to Sarah that Sarah shall have a son, it made a promise. It made a promise, as recorded in Genesis chapter 12, that out of Abraham’s nation or a family, he would form a great nation. Twenty-five years passed from the time that promise was made until Isaac was born. In fact, in the middle of that, you might say something after about eleven years had passed.

You may remember that through through Sarah’s handmaid, Hagar, it was suggested that Abraham have a child, and an Ishmael was born. Now, really, according to Jewish tradition, usually the firstborn would have the promises that would be passed on from the Father. But he’s saying here it wasn’t through Ishmael. The promise was made through Isaac. He chose Isaac, not Ishmael. For God has the right to choose the family from which Christ would come. And here are the Jews who are saying, wait a minute, have you been unfair with us? He says, God has the right to choose. He’s not unfair with you, because he no longer uses the law of Moses as his scheme, a law of works, really. It demanded perfect works. And now through Christ there’s going to be the system of salvation by grace.

That isn’t making God unfair. No more so than when he chose Isaac instead of Ishmael. Was God unfair when he chose Isaac? No. In fact, furthermore, the scripture goes on to speak how that the he, according to election, that not of works, but by election, God selected Esau, not Jacob. Now, the sons of Isaac, Jacob and Esau were twins. And again, Esau was born first. But even while the children were yet in the womb, God had selected that Jacob would be the one, the youngest one would be the one through whom the promised seed would come. Again, was God unfair when he selected Jacob? Even Malachi, I quoted how that the scripture was saying, as written here, Jacob have I love, but Esau have I hated, literally, have I loved less.

For he picked Jacob, whose name was changed to Israel. And the nation of Israel, our Israelites, came through Jacob, came through Isaac, came through Abraham. Now, lest we misunderstand, even the selection of Isaac and the selection of Jacob were not selections to be saved. It wasn’t that God picked Isaac to be saved and not Ishmael, or Ishmael is lost. It wasn’t that he picked Jacob to be saved and Esau is lost. The description here is not a description of who’s saved and who’s lost, but rather through whom the family of Abraham would be developed, that would be the favored nation through whom Christ would come. You see, there are those who take this and make it a sound as though God has elected Jacob to be saved.

5. Pharaoh Hardened His Own Heart

That isn’t the point. Would you say that Esau ordinarily would have been saved, the oldest son, because he’s born in the flesh, the oldest, that that’s the reason he’s saved? Never has been God’s way. God has always condemned men or blessed men based upon their own choice. Those who served God have always been blessed, and those who rejected God’s way have always been cursed. But what he’s saying to the Israelites is, God has the sovereign right to select a family or a scheme of redemption. And he is not unfair by selecting such a plan. In fact, let’s read further. In verses 14 through 18 of Romans 9. What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid. Or he said to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.

So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might show my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth. Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will, he hardeneth. Well, what does he say about Pharaoh? You may remember the story recorded back in the book of Exodus, how that Pharaoh, who was head over Egypt when the children of Israel were in bondage there, and he made their task hard. That God raised up Moses to lead them out of bondage. But Pharaoh resisted. Pharaoh would not let the children of God go.

He would not let the Israelites leave. God brought ten different plagues. Finally, the last one would be the death of the firstborn. And only then did Pharaoh allow the children of Israel to lead Egypt. But all through that period of time, what did those plagues show? First of all, you might say it showed the long suffering of God. God could have zapped Pharaoh from the very start. He could have wiped him out. He could have delivered the children of Israel from the very first. But God kept holding out to Pharaoh, opportunity after opportunity. On the other hand, there was Pharaoh who was resisting the will of God. And Pharaoh’s heart was hardened. There are really three statements that are found in the book of Exodus. Pharaoh’s heart was hardened.

Pharaoh hardened his own heart. God hardened Pharaoh’s heart. Can all three of those statements be accurate? Why, absolutely they can be, and they are accurate. As someone has put it this way, the same sun that melts butter hardens clay. The same word of God that makes some people yield in a simple, humble obedience, makes other people turn in hardened rebellion. And Pharaoh was one who hardened his own heart. It was not that God made Pharaoh choose that way, but God used the man who made that kind of choice. God used him to demonstrate God’s own power. God could have done differently with Pharaoh, but in the process of holding out to him opportunity to turn, but knowing even in advance, God could know how Pharaoh would react.

But here was a man whose heart became hardened against God, and what did it do? It magnified God. God is not unfair to choose Christ as the way of salvation. That’s really the point here. God has the right. And so when you read through the scriptures and God’s chosen plan of salvation, God has the right to say through Christ. Now the Jews are saying, wait a minute, aren’t we God’s favored people? And the answer is being developed in this chapter and really through chapter 11 is that God is not unfair because no longer is the fleshly Israelite really the one who is of Israel. You remember back in verse 6, all they who are of Israel, of the flesh are really Israel. God has the right to choose Jesus Christ as a way of salvation, and that’s what he did.

6. God Chose the Plan, Not the Man

Don’t let a Jew come along and say, oh, well, God is unfair to us. Indeed, no longer do we follow God’s way through the law of Moses. It is through the gospel of Jesus Christ. But when we speak about the election of God, we can simply say it this way. God chose the plan, not the man. What that means is that God has elected the way of salvation to be through Jesus Christ. That’s the plan revealed in Romans chapter 1. Again, the theme, verses 16 and 17. I’m not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. Or it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone to believe it, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. Therein is the righteousness of God revealed. From faith to faith as it is written, the just shall live by faith.

And that’s a plan that is that is for everyone. In Romans chapter 2 and verse 11, there’s no respect of persons with God. What is revealed in the book of Romans is that now the system of salvation is through the system of grace, no longer of works. And really, in this text that we’ve just been reading, he says, why is it that God elected Jesus Christ? It wasn’t because there were some in the lineage of Abraham who did the right kind of works that made God feel obligated or debt to do it this way. He is under debt to no man. He has the right because he is sovereign to choose how to be saved. But this book of Romans, while it also speaks of salvation by the grace of God and God’s sovereign right to choose that, is a book that also teaches that it is man’s response to God’s grace that will determine whether he’s saved or not.

Conclusion

So we’re going to see in the latter part of this same chapter. Why did Israel fail? Why were they cut off? Because of unbelief. Had they believed in the Christ, they would be saved. But by their rejection of Jesus as a Son of God, they are lost. You see, we started out the letter in Romans chapter 1 and verse 5 that the apostle wrote it unto the obedience of faith. And it closes in Romans 16 and verse 26. That the obedience of the faith. What God wants is that men come to the faith of Jesus Christ, believing him to be the Son of God, responding to the gospel, the means of God’s salvation, and obeying the gospel to be saved by the grace of God. It isn’t that God elects certain individuals and they alone are saved, but God’s elected the plan.

And men who obey the Lord by faith shall be saved. Until our next study, we bid that the grace and peace of our Lord be with you.